Medieval Period

Question 1

Aristotle

Answer 1

 Stressed that music could affect behavior – music imitates the passions or states of the soul. As a result, it can also affect the mood of the listener (good music could make good people and vice versa).
 Plato (Aristotle’s teacher) was more restrictive in regards to music.

Question 2

Pythagoras

Answer 2

 Important figure in the development of Greek musical theory (laid the foundation for medieval music theory).
 Music was inseparable from numbers – the foundation of the universe. Music was governed by mathematical laws.
 Legend of the anvils.

Question 3

Boethius (c. 480-524/26):

Answer 3

 One of the most revered and important authorities on music in the medieval period. He compiled Greek thought on music into his De institutione musica.
 Stressed that music was a science of numbers and the importance of numerical ratios – part of the quadrivium.
 Outlined musica mundana/humana/instrumentalis within his text. Also placed an importance on the effect of music on the soul.

Question 4

Doctrine of Ethos:

Answer 4

 Music had the power to elevate or debase the soul – capable of changing emotions and behaviors.
 Plato: “He who mingles music with gymnastics in the fairest proportions, and best accommodates them to the soul, may be rightly called the true musician.”
 Connected to the ideas Aristotle put forth regarding the affect of music on the soul.

Question 5

Ptolemy

Answer 5

 Music had a connection to astronomy – Harmony of the Spheres (given name in Plato’s Republic).
 Tonoi:
• Means of organizing melody.
• Differed greatly over geographical regions (Dorian, Ionian, and Aeolian)
• Number of disagreements over the issue – Aristoxenus (13 tonoi), Alypius (15 tonoi), Ptolemy (7 tonoi). Ptolemy stressed 7 tonoi over the 15.
• Cleonides: tonos has four meanings – note, interval, region of the voice, pitch.

Question 6

Quadrivium and trivium

Answer 6

 Structure of the 7 liberal arts – the verbal arts (grammar, dialectic, rhetoric), mathematical disciplines (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and harmonics).

Question 7

Early Christianity (forms of chant)

Answer 7

the different regional types of chant were known as dialects. As the religion became more widely accepted (and legalized), the worship services grew and became more elaborate.

Question 8

Byzantine Chant

Answer 8

 Centered in Byzantium – the capital of the Eastern Empire, after the division of the Roman Empire in 395 into East/West.
 Blending of Hellenistic and Oriental elements.
 Services include psalms, hymns, and chants.
 Most important for hymns.
 Influenced some aspects of Western chant – classification of the repertory into 8 modes and in some chants and styles of performance.

Question 9

Gallican Chant

Answer 9

 Originated in modern day France, the Franks retained the Gallican liturgy (included Celtic and Byzantine elements).
 Suppressed by Pepin and Charlemagne in favor of the Roman chant in the 8th century. Has virtually disappeared as a result.
 Influence is seen on the Roman chant, largely as a result of Alcuin and the Carolingian empire’s adoption of the Roman chant (under Charlemagne), which resulted in a blending of the two.

Question 10

Mozarabic Chant

Answer 10

 Originated in Spain. Has been preserved in a notation that has defied transcription.
 Recognized by the Council of Toledo in 633, acquired its name after the Muslim conquest in the 8th century.
 Preserved by Ximenes in a chapel in Toledo. It must have disappeared quite rapidly, as evidenced by the lack of modern chantbooks.

Question 11

Old Roman Chant

Answer 11

 Found in manuscripts from Rome dating to the 11th/12th centuries – can be traced back to the 8th century.
 Replaced by Gregorian (influenced by Frankish styles). Likely that the Old Roman was the original fund of chants which were then modified in Gaul and spread throughout the rest of Europe. Although there was some unity, there were still local variants (known as “uses”) until the Council of Trent.
 Gregorian – the myth of Pope Gregory (590-604) receiving the chants from the Holy Spirit.
• Partly spread by Charlemagne in an effort to unify his lands, working with Pope Leo III. The consolidation of the chant may be the work of Gregory II (715-731).
• Some evidence that Charlemagne helped consolidate the chant repertory – not much is known because of the absence of written chants. He did set up singing schools, particularly in Metz and St. Gall.

Question 12

Ambrosian Chant

Answer 12

 Centered in Milan (the most important church outside of Rome).
 Named for St. Ambrose (374-397) - introduced responsorial psalmody to the West and is often credited with Latin hymnody. This responsorial psalmody was incorporated into the Roman liturgy.
 Chants are similar to those in Rome.
 Songs of the Milanese rite became Ambrosian chant – some of them are still actively used in Milan.

Question 13

Musica mundana/humana/instrumentalis

Answer 13

 Medieval thought on music – came from the opening chapters of Boethius’ De institutione musica.
 Music created by the movement of the planets/seasons/elements; that created by the body and the soul; the form created by instruments/voice.
 Shows the emphasis placed on theoretical over practical application of music.

Question 14

The Office (music)

Answer 14

 Also known as the Canonical Hours.
 Codified in the Rule of St. Benedict (ca. 520) – the structure and the content (also stated that all 150 psalms would be recited during the week). It consists of prayers, psalms, canticles, antiphons, responses, hymns, and readings. The music is collected in the Antiphoner. The chief musical feature is the chanting of psalms with their antiphons, singing of hymns and canticles, and the chanting of lessons with their musical responses. Celebrated mainly by nuns and monks (although there were some non-monastic, i.e. secular, forms celebrated), varied from region to region – not as structured as the Mass.
 Eight prayer services celebrated daily at specific times:
• Matins – before daybreak
• Lauds – sunrise
• Prime – 6 a.m.
• Terce – 9 a.m.
• Sext – noon
• None – 3 p.m.
• Vespers – sunset
• Compline – right after Vespers (singing of the four antiphons of the Virgin Mary, based on the time of the year):
• Alma Redemptoris Mater – Advent to February 1
• Ave Regina caelorum – February 2 to Wednesday of Holy Week
• Regina caeli laetare – Easter to Trinity Sunday
• Salve Regina – Trinity until Advent
 Most important Offices for music are Matins (some of the most ancient chants in the church), Lauds, and Vespers (canticle – Magnificat anima mea Dominum; the only Office that admitted polyphonic singing from early times).
 For a detailed discussion of the form of the Offices, see the Norton, beginning p. 94.

Question 15

Mass (music)

Answer 15

 The most important service of the Catholic Church. The core of the service is the Eucharist – the order and components varied over time and place. The Roman rite eventually became dominant [Ordo romanus primus (7th century) – instruction by the Bishop of Rome].
 Usually celebrated between Prime and Terce in monasteries and convents.
 The Order of the Mass codified in 1570 by Pope Pius V (following the decision of the Council of Trent):

Proper	Ordinary
Introit	
	Kyrie
	Gloria (omitted in Lent and Advent)
Collects	
Epistle	
Gradual	
Alleluia/Tract (The Tract is used in place of the Alleluia for solemn occasions)	
Sequence (rare now – common in Medieval period – added for certain occasions like Easter)	
Gospel	
[Sermon]	
	Credo
Offertory (opens the Eucharist proper)	
Secret	
Preface	
	Sanctus
Canon	
	Agnus Dei
Communion	
Post-Communion	
	Ite, missa est

Question 16

Proper

Answer 16

• Texts of the mass that vary according to the season: Collects, Epistle, Gospel, Preface, and the Post-Communion.
• Seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost
• Church calendar runs in two cycles that run concurrently: The Proper of the Time (celebrates main elements of Jesus’ life) and The Proper of the Saints (celebrates the various Saints). There is a hierarchy determining which is celebrated if they overlap.
• Proper chants are named by their function, ordinary chants by their initial words.
• Principal musical parts of the Proper: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory, and Communion.
• Three Antiphonal Chants of the Mass: Introit, Offertory, and Communion. They became curtailed over time as the ceremonies they accompanied were reduced. They have maintained their musical style because they were always intended to be performed by the choir, rather than the congregation.
• Responsorial Chants: Gradual, Tract, and Alleluia.
• Tracts: longest chants in the liturgy (long texts that are extended with melismas).
 Recitation – florid mediation – recitation – melisma (last verse usually uses an extended melisma).
 Sometimes replaces the Alleluia, sometimes is replaced by the Alleluia. In penitential seasons, the Tract is used in place of the Alleluia.
• Graduals: came to the Frankish churches through Rome. Florid melodies.
 Introductory respond (refrain) followed by a single verse of a psalm  the soloist begins each section, which is concluded by the choir.
 Centonization: joining together of formulas to create a melody. Applied consistently and obviously within Graduals.
• Alleluias: Refrain (on “Alleluia”) – psalm verse – refrain.
 The melisma on the final “ia” – jubilus.
 Soloist (Alleluia) – Chorus (Alleluia + jubilus) – Soloist (Psalm verse) – Chorus (last phrase of psalm verse) – Soloist (Alleluia) – Chorus (jubilus)
 The Gradual and Alleluia form what are known as the “jewels of the Roman mass.” The lesson between them was taken out – leaving these two musical moments as an extended section of music.
• Offertories: similar in melodic style to the Graduals – it is the only antiphonal chant to adopt the style of the responsorial psalmody. They began as long chants that have been shortened.

Question 17

Ordinary

Answer 17

• The fixed parts of the service: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.
• Since the 14th century – almost all polyphonic settings of the Mass are the Ordinary.
• Kyrie: 3 part (Kyrie eleison – Christie eleison – Kyrie eleison) – each of these sections is repeated 3 times.
• Agnus Dei: may take the form ABA, may use the same music for all three parts.
• Sanctus: Divided into 3 parts.
• Gloria and Credo maintain the syllabic style.

Question 18

Plainchant Notation

Answer 18

 Notation: began to gradually emerge over time – earliest preserved notation dates from the beginning of the 10th century. Emerged in different forms in different places (the chant, however, was remarkably consistent from place to place).
 Systematic notation of the chant melodies coincided with a campaign by the Frankish monarchs to consolidate their kingdom (Charlemagne and his successors).
• Sent liturgical-musical “missionaries” to teach the chants – used the legend of St. Gregory.
• Notation insured that the chants were passed down uniformly
 During the 11th century, some scribes began to align neumes according to their pitch above and below an imaginary line – at about this time, some scribes began writing a line or pair of lines to the manuscript.
 The staff has 4 lines – one of which is designated by a clef as either “c” or “f” (these do not indicate absolute pitches – pitch is relative) – this did not come about until later, around 13th or 14th century. Originally, it started with one then two lines (labeled c or f).
 Diastematic/non-diastematic – diastemetic (or heightened) neumes were placed around these lines – showed a sense of pitch (still ambiguous).
 Modern editions of plainchant produced by the monks of Solesmes, these are important editions of chant – the official Vatican editions (advocate a style of chant in which all notes are of equal value).
 Neumes: the signs representing the notes, comes from Greek neuma, meaning “gesture.” They show relative movement, likely intended more as memory aids.
• Although they were probably rhythmically sung, it is now usual for them to be sung as having equal value.
• May only carry one syllable of text.
• A dot after a neume doubles its length.
• Two or more neumes in succession on the same line/space (if on the same syllable) are sung as though tied.
• Horizontal dash above the neume means it should be lengthened.
• Composite neumes (single signs representing two or more notes) are read from left to right, except for the pes (neumes stacked on top of each other), where the lower note is sung first.
• Oblique neume – indicates two different notes.
• Flat sign (except in a signature at the beginning of the line) is valid until the next vertical division line or the next word.
• Custos – at the end of the line (signals the first note of the following line).
• Asterisk – shows where the chorus takes over from the soloist.
• “ij” and “iij” indicate that the preceding phrase is to be sung 2 or 3 times.

Question 19

Recitation Formulas

Answer 19

 Tenor: chants for reciting prayers and readings from the Bible - lie on the border between speech and song.
• The single reciting note or tenor (usually a or c) – each verse or period of the text is recited on this tone.
• Important accents are brought out with upper or lower neighbors.
• Deviations to this central pitch also occur at the middle and end of the sentence.
• Reciting tone can be preceded by an initium (2 or 3 note introductory formula)
• End of the verse or period is marked by a short melodic cadence.
 Psalm Tones: one tone for each of the 8 church modes + an extra one called the “wandering tone” (Tonus peregrines) which is limited largely to Psalm 113.
• Psalms are recited syllabically to one of the 8 melodic formulas (psalm tones).
• Psalm verses typically fall into 2 halves. Each half centers on a recitation tone, first half ends in a mediant cadence. The second half has a more distinctive cadence (terminatio).
• In the Office, a psalm may be sung to any of the tones.
• A typical order:
• Initium: used only on the first verse of the psalm (means of transitioning from the antiphon).
• Tenor (for longer verses there is also a “flex” added in this section).
• Mediatio: semicadence in the middle of the verse
• Tenor
• Terminatio: final cadence (means of transitioning back to the antiphon).
• The last verse of the psalm is usually followed by the Lesser Doxology.

Question 20

Liber usualis

Answer 20

a collection of the most frequently used chants from both the Graduale and Antiphonale.

Question 21

Antiphons

Answer 21

more numerous than any other type of chant – about 1,250 are found in the modern Antiphonale. Many use the same melody with only slight variations. Since they were sung by a choir, they were usually fairly simple (stepwise, primarily syllabic, limited range, and simple rhythm).
 Some antiphons broke off into unique chants – Introit, Offertory, and Communion of the Mass. Some were also produced independently for special occasions (not connected to particular psalms).
 Office:
• In the Office, the chanting of a psalm is preceded and followed by the antiphon (prescribed by the particular day of the calendar) – like a set of bookends. The antiphons are the freely composed music to accompany the recitation of the psalm.
• In early times, a verse or sentence was likely repeated after every verse of the psalm. Now, the opening phrase of the antiphon is sung before the psalm, while the entire antiphon is sung after.
• Mode of antiphon determines mode of psalm tone.
 Mass (Antiphonal Psalmody): appears in the Introit and Communion of the Mass.
• Introit was shortened over time (originally an antiphon plus psalm) – now it is the antiphon, single verse of psalm, antiphon.
• Communion – short chant, typically only one scriptural verse.

Question 22

Responsory

Answer 22

similar to the antiphon – short verse that is sung by the soloist, repeated by a choir before a prayer or a short sentence of Scripture and repeated by the choir at the end of the reading.
 Much more elaborate than the Antiphon, since it was usually sung by a soloist.
 Gradual, Alleluia, and Tract are responsorial chants – choir alternates with the soloist.
 Soloist – Choir – Reading – Choir.

Question 23

Tropes

Answer 23

originated as newly composed additions, usually in neumatic style and with poetic texts, to antiphonal chants of the Proper (usually to the Introit). They were later added to chants from the Ordinary. A trope is a musical or textual addition to an existing chant.
 Flourished in monastic churches in the 10th and 11th centuries - fell out of favor in the 12th - banned by the Council of Trent.
 Usually sung by soloists.
 3 kinds of tropes:
• New words and music added to a regular chant.
• Music only – extending melismas or adding new ones.
• Text only – added to existing melismas, almost always syllabic, usually emphasized the vowel, lots of assonance.
 Served several purposes: added solemnity, explain or enlarge the meaning, identify the feast day being celebrated, etc.
 Means of expression within the liturgy.

Question 24

Prosula

Answer 24

originally referred to prose text set to Alleluia melismas (adding words to an existing melisma).
• In the 12th century – the term also referred to poetic Sequence texts.
• Textual troping was particularly common in the Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory and sections of the Mass Ordinary with brief texts (Kyrie).

Question 25

Sequences

Answer 25

deriving from the melisma (jubilus) that followed the “Alleluia” to which a text was set. They were often independent of particular Alleluias. There is some discussion over the extent of its independence and connection to the Alleluia.  Typical Sequence pattern: a bb cc dd...n (a and n are the unpaired verses that begin and end the sequence – the middle section is made up of paired verses – like a poetic couplet). Early sequences usually do not conform to a pattern. The structure did not take firm hold until the 11th century, when poetic texts began to replace prose.  Associated with the writing of Notker, who described the process of writing a sequence.  Particularly important from the 10th to the 13th centuries (late Middle-Ages saw an influence between sequences and secular music).  Most sequences (with a few exceptions) were banned from the service by the Council of Trent.

Question 26

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

Answer 26

founder and abbess of the Convent at Rupertsberg, Germany.  Noted for her prophetic powers and revelations.  First woman given permission by the pope to write on theology.  Composed music and wrote on theology.  Sequences are unusual in that the pair lines differ in syllable count and accent – she varies music accordingly. Her melodies are unique because they exceed the range of an octave by a 4th or 5th.

Question 27

Liturgical Drama

Answer 27

 Parts were represented by individuals as part of the worship service.  Often taken from tropes (one of the earliest was based on a trope preceding the Introit for the Easter Mass). It is a matter of debate whether the liturgical drama is a product of the trope or an independent composition.  The Easter and Christmas plays were the most popular. There were also plays discussing Biblical scenes and the lives of saints.  Number of chants strung together with processions and action (possible that they used scenery, a stage, costumes, and actors drawn from the clergy) – they were expanded over time. The most elaborate were often the ones for Christmas, it was only later that the Easter ones became more elaborate.  Some used liturgical texts, some used poetic texts, and some combined the two. The earliest were liturgical (The three Marys and the tomb of Christ).  Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum – a nonliturgical sacred music drama. It is a morality play in which all the parts, except the devil, are sung in plainchant. It is a freely composed drama not connected with any existing chant or ritual, composed of Hildegard’s own text and melodies.  Vernacular dramas (mysteries and miracles) – similar to the liturgical dramas. Differences: venue (church vs. outside church); music (liturgical was completely sung, while the vernacular incorporated spoken dialogue, the music was more like incidental music); language

Question 28

Church Modes (authentic/plagal)

Answer 28

 The complete form of 8 modes was achieved by the 11th century (likely based on the 8 echoi from Byzantium). They came about after many of the chants were in existence, so many chants do not completely conform to these ideas.  Finalis: the modes are differentiated by the position of the whole tones and semitones in a diatonic octave built on the finalis, or final. • This was usually the last note of the melody. • Did not recognize modes with finals of a, b, or c.  The modes were identified by number and grouped in pairs: • Odd numbered modes – authentic • Even numbered modes – plagal (start a fourth lower than the authentic mode – the tetrachord is moved below the pentachord) • A plagal mode always had the same final as its corresponding authentic mode. • Dorian – Hypodorian; Phrygian – Hypophrygian; Lydian – Hypolydian; Mixolydian – Hypomixolydian – the Greek names were applied later and are now used in modern textbooks.  Each mode also had a tenor (or reciting tone) – it was different for the authentic and plagal modes. This was used to recite long passages of text. • Authentic modes: the tenor is a 5th above the final • Plagal modes: the tenor is a 3rd below the tenor of the corresponding authentic mode • Except when it would fall on the note B, then it is moved up to C.  Ambitus: the range. The authentic mode has a range essentially of an octave (from the final up to the next octave with the possibility of going one note below the final). The plagal mode may extend beyond this octave because the final occurs in the middle of the octave. • Authentic – ambitus running an octave above the finalis. • Plagal – ambitus running a 5th above and a 4th below the finalis.  Centonization: the process of creating new melodies from combinations of preexisting melodic formulas. This can be seen in Eastern musical practices. These formulas create families of chants using the same formulas.

Question 29

Solmization

Answer 29

system developed by Guido of Arezzo to teach sight-singing using syllables (ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la) and help singers remember the pattern of whole tones and semitones (beginning on G or C).  The semitone falls between third and fourth steps – everything else is whole tone.  Guido of Arezzo: 11th century monk. • Came up with the system with the hymn, Ut queant laxis. Each of the six phrases begins with one of the notes of the pattern (C-D-E-F-G-A)  the initial syllables of the hymn became the syllables for each step. • Followers developed the Guidonian Hand (each joint stands for one of the 20 notes of the system).  Mutation: learning a melody that exceeded the six note range required mutation – the note was begun in one hexachord and quitted as though it was in another one (like a pivot chord).

Question 30

Hexachord

Answer 30

the six-step solmization pattern developed into the hexachords. Hexachord  interval pattern of the six notes from ut to la.  Hexachord on G with the square B (natural) was called hard.  F with round B (flat) was soft.  C was natural.  Notes were named by its letter and the position it occupied in the hexachord; i.e., gamma ut (where gamut comes from), c sol fa ut, g sol re ut.  Gamut was made of a series of 7 interlocking hexachords.

Question 31

Jongleurs

Answer 31

people who sang secular songs in the Middle Ages (also known as minstrels).  First appeared in the 10th century.  Traveled from place to place, social outcasts. Sang, played instruments, performed tricks, exhibited animals. They often sang the music of the troubadours.  11th century (with growing economic stability in Europe), they began to develop brotherhoods (guilds).

Question 32

Troubadours/Trouveres

Answer 32

poet composers, means “to find.”  Troubadours – south of France, spoke Provencal – they were the first group.  Trouveres – northern France. • Not a well defined group, flourished in aristocratic circles. • Often wrote and performed their own songs, topics covered ideas like love, chivalry, political and moral topics, etc. • Mostly strophic • Songs are collected in chansonniers, probably transmitted orally before being written down. • Adam de la Halle – regarded as the last of the trouveres (Robin et Marion – musical play built around some of the of the narrative pastoral songs). • Bernart de Ventadorn (troubadour) – banished from 2 different courts for getting too close to the females, spent the last years of his life in a monastery. Shows the itinerant life of many of these troubadours. • Beatrice de Dia (12th century troubadour) • Songs were mostly syllabic with occasional short melismatic figures (mostly on the penultimate syllable of a line), the range is narrow (usually no more than a sixth, hardly ever more than an octave). • Wrote about love, laments, pastorals, and dialogues. • Usually written in the 1st and 7th church modes and their plagals. • Notation does not show the rhythm. • Most active in the 12th and 13th centuries – many of them were forced to flee south as a result of persecution.

Question 33

Minnesinger

Answer 33

German school of knightly poet-musicians, flourished between the 12th and 14th centuries. • Sang about love (more abstract than troubadour love), often had a distinctly religious tinge. • Crusade song. • Mostly strophic. • Some of them became very famous, important for later music history (Tannhauser). • Succeeded by the Meistersinger, tradesmen and artisans of German cities. They composed according to strict rules. • One of the main forms was Bar (aab) – “a” was the Stollen, “b” was Abgesang – form was also common for Minnelieder. • Toward the end of the 13th century – the art of the trouveres moved from nobility to cultured middle-class citizens. The same thing took place in Germany during 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.

Question 34

Songs in Latin – Carmina Burana

Answer 34

 Oldest written secular songs had Latin texts.  Carmina Burana, compiled in the late 13th century, contains songs about gambling, drinking, erotic love, and satirical songs about the church.  The earliest form the repertoire of the Goliard songs from the 11th and 12th centuries (Goliards – students and clergy who migrated from school to school in the days before universities were founded).  Celebrated vagabond lifestyle – topics revolve around wine, satire, and women.  Conductus (monophonic song) – from the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries – straddles the line between sacred and secular. • Originally associated with liturgical drama or liturgical service, however, the connection was tenuous. • By 12th century – serious, non-liturgical Latin song with a metrical text on any sacred or secular subject. • Important feature was that the melody was newly composed, not borrowed.

Question 35

Free Organum/Discant Organum (unmeasured vs. measured)

Answer 35

 Organum (free/umeasured/duplum): the lower voice holds out notes under the more elaborate upper voice.  Organum (discant, measured): voices move basically note-against-note.

Question 36

Tenor/Duplum (triplum/quadruplum)

Answer 36

the names for the different voices. “Tenor” appeared with the florid organum – the lower voice would “hold” the original chant in long, extended notes. The voices added on top received the other names (duplum, triplum, quadruplum) – this expansion is credited with Perotin and his contemporaries.

Question 37

Musica and Scolica enchiriadis

Answer 37

anonymous treatise and its accompanying dialogue – describes 2 kinds of “singing together.”  First preserved reference to polyphony appears in musica enchiriadis written in the middle or second half of the 9th century.  Vox principalis (principal voice) sings the plainsong melody, while the vox organalis (organal voice) sings at a 5th or 4th below, these could sometimes be doubled at the octave. Also, in an effort to avoid tritones, a rule was put into place where the organal voice remained on the same note until it was safe to resume parallel 4ths (could not go below G or C).  Parallel  Modified parallel and Oblique

Question 38

Ad organum faciendum

Answer 38

treatise written around 1100 – places the vox organalis above the vox principalis. This relationship became the standard. This was around the same time that contrary motion became popular (advocated by John Cotton) – transformed the organal voice into an independent line.

Question 39

Winchester Troper

Answer 39

oldest large collection of organum-style pieces.

Question 40

Florid Organum (melismatic organum)

Answer 40

a more florid style of organum that appeared early in the 12th century, particularly in northern Spain and southwestern France.  Lower voice has long, held notes, while the upper voice moves against this line.  The lower voice loses its character, becomes like a drone.  Lower voice became known as the tenor (“to hold”)

Question 41

Rhythmic Modes

Answer 41

by about 1250 the patterns of combining notes and note groups to indicate rhythm had been codified into the 6 rhythmic modes (identified by number) • Roughly corresponds to metrical feet of French and Latin verse. • I. Quarter, eighth (trochee) • II. Eighth, quarter (iamb) • III. Dotted quarter, eighth, quarter (dactyl) • IV. Eighth, quarter, dotted quarter (anapest) • V. dotted quarter, dotted quarter (Spondaic) • VI. Eighth, eighth, eighth (Tribrachic) • Basis was a threefold unit of measure called a perfectio (perfection) • Ligatures: signs derived from the compound neumes of plainchant notation that denoted groups of two, three, or mote tones sung to one syllable. • The series of ligatures would indicate the rhythmic mode to the singer.

Question 42

Leonin

Answer 42

poet-musician, lived in the third quarter of the 12th century. • Leonin and his colleagues turned their attention primarily to the responsorial chants – wrote organum (2-part) for the soloist sections, leaving the choral sections alone.

Question 43

Perotin

Answer 43

last part of the 12th century into the first decades of the 13th. • Expanded to 3, sometimes 4 voices.

Question 44

Magnus liber organi (Great Book of Organum)

Answer 44

cycle of two-part Graduals, Alleluias, and responsories for the entire church year. Leonin is often believed to have compiled the work (credited by Anonymous IV). • Organa are set to the solo portions of the responsorial chants in the Masses and Offices for certain major feasts.

Question 45

Clausula

Answer 45

closed form in discant style in which a chant melisma is heard twice in the tenor.  Each clausulae is kept distinct, separated by a distinct cadence.  Between the clausulae, there are contrasting sections in free (pure) style.  Substitute clausula – in Perotin’s time, they replaced older clausula with newer compositions. Became interchangeable – the choirmaster could select the one that they wanted to use (as many as ten might be written on the same tenor).  Became quasi-independent pieces over time, eventually developed into the motet.

Question 46

Conductus (Polyphonic)

Answer 46

grew out of quasi-liturgical genres (like the hymn and sequence), later admitted secular works.  2 or more voices sing the same text in essentially the same rhythm (usually metrical Latin poems, often on religious themes).  Homorhythmic texture, words generally set syllabically, tenor was often newly composed (makes them the first completely original polyphonic works that were independent of borrowed melodic material).  Caudae: fairly untexted passages (often at beginning, end, and before important cadences), sometimes incorporated previously composed clausulae.  Dropped out of favor after 1250.

Question 47

Motet

Answer 47

began as clausulae cut loose from the larger organa – Latin or French words were added to the upper voices (around the 12th or 13th centuries).  Motet tenors came largely from the repertory of clausula tenors, after 1275, the sources for motet tenors expanded to Kyries, hymns, antiphons, and some secular sources as well.  Texted duplum was known as the motetus.  Earliest motets based on the substitute clausulae was modified in various ways: • Composers discarded the original upper voices, wrote one or more new melodies to go with the existing tenor (the tenor lost its function within the service, they began to manipulate the musical content of the tenor since it was no longer viewed as a sacred object). • Wrote motets to be sung outside the church services with vernacular texts in the upper voices. • By 1250, customary to use different but topically related texts in the 2 upper voices (polytextual motet).  Franconian: composers sought to distinguish all the upper voices from one another (named after Franco of Cologne, from 1250-80). • Triplum – longer text than the motetus, had a faster moving melody compared to the broader melody of the motetus.  Petronian: late 13th century, named after Petrus de Cruce. • Triplum had a lively, free, speechlike rhythm, while the motetus proceeded more slowly. The tenor had a uniform rhythmic pattern.  Theorists distinguished 3 tempos for motets: • Slow: when the breve in the triplum was subdivided into many shorter notes – motets in Petronian style. • Moderate: motets that had no more than three semibreves to a breve – motets in Franconian style. • Fast: hockets.

Question 48

Hocket

Answer 48

rests interrupt the flow of melody in such a way that another voice supplies the notes that would have been sung by the resting voice (melody is divided between the voices).

Question 49

13th century Notation (Mensural)

Answer 49

 Franconian (Franco of Cologne) – laid out in his Ars cantus mensurabilis (around 1280). • Credited with setting down the system of mensural notation – codified the system that retained the note shapes and many of the conventions of the rhythmic modes. • One important distinction – assigned specific rhythmic meanings to each of the various note shapes. • Allows the breve to be divided into 2 or 3 semibreves – based on ternary grouping. The long is divided into 2 or 3 breves. • 4 signs for single notes – double long, long, breve, and semibreve – main notes were the long, breve, and semibreve. • Basic time unit (tempus) was the breve. Tempora = breve. • Perfect (3 breves in a long) – Imperfect (2 notes of unequal value – the first was an “altered breve,” about the duration of two tempora, the second note was one breve, these went into one long). • Final note in the system is perfect.  Petronian: around 1280, Petrus de Cruce refined the Franconian system to allow for a greater subdivision of the breve. • Allowed for as many as 9 semibreves within the duration of one breve. • Allowed for more rapid movement. • Motets written in this new fashion, usually with a rapidly moving triplum, are sometimes called Petronian motets. • Pulse of the music shifted from the breve to the semibreve. • Also introduced the minim and semiminim. • Minim could be half or third a semibreve, but a semiminim was always half a minim. • Another innovation was the punctus divisionis – separates groups of notes, shows what should be altered.

Question 50

Ars Nova

Answer 50

 The new art – stresses the duple, the top part was given prominence, more use of thirds and sixths, increased use of minim and semiminim, imperfection by notes of more remote value (not just notes of the next lowest value), coloration, etc.

Question 51

Ars Nova Motet

Answer 51

 Motet: secularization of the motet continued during this period – often celebrated ecclesiastical or secular occasions, discusses the clergy, political situation, etc.  Isorhythmic Motet: 2 elements in motet tenors – melody and rhythm. • Color: repeating series of pitches. • Talea: recurring rhythmic unit. • They do not have to correspond (can begin and end together, or one of them could extend over several repetitions of the other). • Imposes a certain unity and allows for larger compositions.

Question 52

Mensuration signs

Answer 52

signs that indicate whether the subdivision of breves and semibreves should be understood as perfect or imperfect.  Tempus: relationship of the breve to the semibreve  Prolatio: relationship of the semibreve to the minim.

Question 53

Philippe de Vitry

Answer 53

French composer, poet, and bishop – sometimes credited as the inventor of the ars nova, often cited as the author of the treatise titled ars nova, written around 1320 – he has been credited with establishing the notational system.

Question 54

Johannes de Muris

Answer 54

mathematician, astronomer, and music theorist. He was an advocate of the ars nova, one of the controversial elements that he defended was the viable division of note values into imperfect divisions (2). Wrote, Ars novae musicae

Question 55

Fauvel

Answer 55

Roman de Fauvel – a satirical poem interpolated with 167 pieces of music (34 are motets), dating from 1310-14. Includes rondeaux, ballades, chanson-refrains, and a variety of plainsong – representative of music from the period.  Commentary on the government – Fauvel (a donkey) through the help of Fortuna ascends to the throne of France.  The name derives from the first letter (in French) of several vices (Flattery, Avarice, Villainy, Inconstancy, Envy, and Cowardice).  De Vitry may have written some of the music within the collection.

Question 56

Machaut

Answer 56

French poet-composer (ca. 1300-1377). The leading composer of ars nova in France. He wrote in all of the popular genres of the time. One of the first composers to collect his works together in one volume (Book of the True Poem – quasi-autobiographical collection of letters, lyrics, and song settings), written in praise of Peronne.  Elevated the formes fixes.  Kept tight control over his music (copy and distribution) – the six “Machaut Manuscripts” were prepared under his supervision.  Shows the rise of the composer during this time.  He also wrote one of the earliest polyphonic settings of the Ordinary – Messe de Nostre Dame (early 1360s) – only 14th century polyphonic setting of the complete Mass Ordinary known to have been written by a specific composer.  Musical connections are subtle – change among the various movements (not a strong thematic unity) – not revolved around shared musical techniques or a particular technique.  Uses contratenor – same range as tenor – provided composers with greater opportunities for voice leading.

Question 57

Secular – Formes Fixes (fixed forms)

Answer 57

 Virelais: sometimes called chansons balladees. Characteristic form is Abba…A (A – refrain; b – the first part of the stanza; a – the last part of the stanza, uses the same music as the refrain). • Refrain is sung at the beginning and ending of each strophe.  Ballade: the treble voice carrying the text dominates the texture. Usually 3 strophes, 7 or 8 lines – the last of which is a refrain. The rhyme varies. • Music is usually AAB or AABB. • Usually most melismatic.  Rondeau: Consists of 8 lines of text. 2 musical phrases and the refrain (the refrain contains all the music). Form – AB aAab AB – the refrain = AB.

Question 58

Religious Music – polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary

Answer 58

 14th century, composers devoted little time to polyphonic settings of the complete Mass Ordinary – limited themselves largely to individual movements or pairs of movements.  Three polyphonic cycles have survived from the 14th century: Mass of Tournai, Mass of Barcelona, and the Mass of Toulouse • Likely gathered after the fact – not written as musically integrated cycles of the Ordinary as a whole. • Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame is the exception to the pattern. • Three styles of writing polyphonic music for the mass: song style (essentially one voice with accompaniment), motet style (like a motet), and simultaneous style (the voices essentially move together – akin to a hymn in how the voices interact).

Question 59

Isorhythm

Answer 59

 Talea: repeating rhythm. |  Color : repeating pitches (melody).

Question 60

Trecento

Answer 60

(Italian music in the 14th century) – one of the most important sources is the Squarcialupi Codex.  The Italians utilized their own notational system, which differed from the French. They tended to not use the 4 tempus/prolation forms of French music.  In setting up the voices/text, the Italians also treated this differently than the French. For the French, it was common to have the text in one voice (the cantus) with two untexted, possibly instrumental accompanimental voices (tenor, contratenor). The Italians often used a mixture (2 texted voices with one untexted ) or all three texted.

Question 61

Madrigal

Answer 61

idyllic, pastoral, satirical, or love poems written for 2 voices with a tenor underneath.  Consists of several 3 line stanzas (often of 11 syllables), followed by a closing pair of lines.  All of the stanzas are set to the same music.  Pair of lines (ritornello) is set to different music with a different meter – creates an overall AAB form (with A as the stanza and B as the ritornello).

Question 62

Caccia

Answer 62

popular-style melody was set in strict canon to lively, graphically descriptive words. 2 equal voices in canon at the unison.  Usually had an additional free instrumental part in slower motion below.  Poetic form was irregular, sometimes had ritornellos.  The name has been associated with the hunt, although the text did not always depict these scenes.

Question 63

Ballata

Answer 63

polyphonic, later than the caccia or madrigal. Originally associated with dancing. The form resembles the virelai (AbbaA). Most have 3 strophes, some only 1.  Remained monophonic much longer than the madrigal or caccia, however, it became hugely popular and eventually overtook the other two forms.

Question 64

Landini

Answer 64

leading composer of ballate, foremost Italian composer of the trecento – wrote no sacred music. He features prominently in the Squarcialupi Codex.  Cadence: passage from the major sixth to the octave is ornamented by a lower neighbor leaping up a third in the upper part.  Also common with 14th century composers, double-leading tone cadence: sharped seventh leads to octave, sharped fourth leads to the fifth.

Question 65

Jacopo da Bologna/Lorenzo da Firenze/Johannes Ciconia

Answer 65

(Ciconia is particularly important, he was a French composer who wrote in the Italian style – his music is representative of music of the period – transition to the Renaissance).  There were essentially 2 generations of Italian trecento composers, latered centered in Florence.

Question 66

Ars subtilior

Answer 66

: music of the late 14th century noted for its ultra sophisticated techniques (named in the 20th century).  Notational conventions of this style:  Special note shapes that sometimes occur in only one source.  Special kinds of coloration used to indicate rhythm.  Obscure verbal canons.  Notational inconsistencies.

Question 67

Musica ficta

Answer 67

the practice of raising or lowering certain notes by a half step resulting in notes that were outside the standard gamut – implied or indicated by accidentals, often reluctant to write notes that were outside the gamut.  Common in cadences in which a minor sixth called for by the mode was raised to a major sixth before a cadential octave.  Third moving to a unison should be a minor.  Sixth expanding to the octave should be made major.

Question 68

Ars subtilior Notation

Answer 68

 The signs have been attributed to de Vitry.  The emergence of the minim and semiminim.  Perfect/imperfect  breve to the semibreve; prolation  semibreve to the minim  Mensuration Signs: • Circle – perfect time • Half-circle – imperfect time • Dot – major prolation • No dot – minor prolation  Colored notation, number of different meanings – show imperfect/perfect where the opposite would seem to be indicated; show that notes were to be sung at half their normal value.

Question 69

Rondellus

Answer 69

A compositional technique making use of imitation and voice exchange; also a complete work written using this technique.  Most common in the 13th century and confined almost exclusively to Britain, it involved the composition of a simple melody that is consonant when combined with itself in imitation (similar to a canon). The technique is found most frequently in three-part textures, in which either two upper voices are combined with a repeating phrase in the lower voice (known as a pes) or three voices stand alone. The best-known (but a rather uncharacteristic) example of rondellus technique is the rota Sumer is icumen in, in which a texture of many voices can be created from a long melody and a short pes.

Question 70

Fauxbourdon

Answer 70

A technique of singing improvised polyphony, associated particularly with 15th-century Franco-Burgundian sacred music.  The word ‘fauxbourdon’ (in the form faulx bourdon) is first encountered as an instruction in Dufay's Missa Sancti Jacobi and in another piece in the same manuscript, both compositions probably dating from the 1420s or 30s. Evidence from choir archives of the practice of fauxbourdon, of the sort common for faburden, has so far not been discovered.  Theoretical descriptions are later, beginning with Monachus, an Italian writer of the 1480s; they continue throughout the 16th century, although the practice of fauxbourdon in its original form probably died with the 15th century.  The compositions of Dufay and his contemporaries show that fauxbourdon meant improvising a supplementary voice in parallel 4ths below a given voice (often a decorated plainchant). A third part would complete the texture a 6th below the chant.

Question 71

Faburden

Answer 71

A type of improvised polyphony, chiefly in parallel motion, in 6-3 chords with 8-5 chords at the beginnings and ends of phrases, popular in England from the 15th century to the Reformation. The origins and significance of the term have been much disputed. It has in the past been mistakenly equated with English discant, and it has also been seen as an offshoot of fauxbourdon, again almost certainly incorrectly.  The purpose of faburden is to add two voices to a plainchant. The ‘faburden’ part begins a 5th lower than the chant, moves up to a 3rd below it, and remains at that interval for succeeding notes until the final note of a phrase, where the interval of the 5th is regained. A top part, called a ‘treble’, sings in parallel 4ths above the chant throughout. The ‘faburdener’ is recommended to avoid 5ths below E and B, but these are necessary at the end of E-mode pieces.

Question 72

Old Hall Manuscript

Answer 72

Early 15th‐cent. collection of church music found in the library of St Edmund's Coll., Old Hall, Herts., first described in 1903 and published 1933– 8. Sold privately to Brit. Library 1973. It offers a valuable opportunity of studying the choral style of a period c.1415. Comprises 140 folios of church music by composers of the Chapel Royal.  The main compilation (OH-I) was put together between about 1415 and 1421 by a single scribe and presents for the first time an English repertory largely tied to named composers like Power, with 20–26 compositions, along with many others.  Later additions (OH-II) in some seven hands, of music by several new composers, like Dunstaple, were made in the early 1420s on openings left blank by the main scribe and on leaves newly inserted.  The music of OH-II displays the suave consonance and melodic elegance associated with the generation of Dunstaple and often labelled the contenance angloise. There is a higher proportion of duet writing and withdrawal from the extreme rhythmic complexity of OH-I works by Power and Pycard.  It is the most important collection of English music from the period. Significantly, it contains mainly music for the Ordinary, although there is no music for the Kyrie.  There are a number of diverse styles, including English discant, mass movements not written in score, mass movements in song style, mass movements in motet style (plus some with isorhythm), canonic mass movements.

Question 73

Dunstable (c. 1390-1453)

Answer 73

English composer, astrologer, and mathematician.  Leading English composer of first half of 15th cent.  Enjoyed European reputation, attested by discovery of his works in early Italian and French collections.  He was a member of the households of John, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the latter a noted patron of the arts. He travelled to Europe and was given land holdings in Normandy. Influenced Du Fay and Binchois, likely in these travels to the Continent.  Probably first to write instrumental accompaniment for church music. Wrote masses, isorhythmic motets, etc.  Buried in St Stephen's, Walbrook, London (destroyed in Great Fire of 1666). Some works attributed to him are now known to be by Power, Binchois, Binet, and others.

Question 74

Motet (brief overview beginning in the medieval period and continuing through the 20th century):

Answer 74

The most important form of polyphonic vocal music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Over its five centuries of existence there is no one definition that would apply throughout, but from the Renaissance onwards motets have normally had Latin sacred texts and have been designed to be sung during Catholic services.  The medieval motet evolved during the 13th century, when words (Fr.: mots) were added to the upper parts of clausulae—hence the label ‘motetus’ for such an upper part, a term that came to be applied to the entire piece. Whereas the lower part of such a composition (a tenor cantus firmus) moved in slower notes and was derived from a plainchant with Latin text, the upper part or parts might carry unrelated Latin or even French secular texts, and such parts were being freely invented by about 1250. • During the 14th century, the structural principle of isorhythm was applied to the tenors of motets (in the works of Machaut, for example); up to the early 15th century, it was applied in some cases to all voices, as in Dunstaple's Veni Sancte Spiritus or Dufay's Nuper rosarum flores. The last named was written for the consecration of Florence Cathedral in 1436; indeed, many medieval motets were occasional in function, their several simultaneously sung texts ‘glossing’ on one another.  During the time of Dunstaple and Dufay - a freely composed type of motet, often in simple style and with a single text, came into being, and by the late 15th century the motet had become a choral setting of sacred works in four or more parts. Its choral texture was more unified than before, the individual voices moving at the same sort of pace (though the tenor cantus firmus in long notes can still be found in some of Josquin's motets). • The practice of imitation, whereby each voice entered in turn with the same distinctive musical idea, became fundamental to the motet as to other types of polyphonic music; at the same time composers reflected a new humanist spirit in their careful choice of motet texts and attention to the way the words were enunciated in the music. The motet, unlike the mass, the psalm, the hymn, or the Magnificat setting, remained a form not strictly prescribed by the liturgy, but added (or substituted) at an appropriate place in the service on the appropriate day—in the same way as the English anthem. The occasional ‘ceremonial’ type of motet survived too, and would be written or commissioned to mark any kind of event or honor any person, religious or otherwise.  The imitative motet style flowered with the generation after Josquin, and the device of ‘pervading imitation’, whereby successive phrases of the text are set to overlapping points of imitation, was developed by Gombert and refined by Palestrina and the other great late Renaissance polyphonists: Lassus, Byrd, and Victoria. Palestrina wrote some 250 motets, Lassus twice that number (including a fair proportion of occasional pieces), and Byrd published three collections of Cantiones sacrae—a Latin name often given to motets at that time. In Venice a polychoral type of motet developed with the Gabrielis, and Giovanni Gabrieli's later motets, which belong to the early years of the 17th century, are massive works scored for soloists, full choir, and instrumental ensemble (largely consisting of cornetts and sackbuts).  Although the old style (stile antico) of Palestrina was still sometimes cultivated in motets written during the Baroque period (and even later), from 1600 onwards composers largely adopted the new styles for their motets, writing pieces for one or more voices with continuo and sometimes also including independent instrumental parts, usually for strings. This was especially so in Italy, where by 1700 the solo motet, a cantata-like piece for one voice and strings, often setting a picturesque non-liturgical text, had become the most common form of motet. German composers including Schütz adopted the modern ‘affective’ style in certain works, but retained a more contrapuntal, choral texture for others—a tradition that was continued in Bach's motets for choir and organ. In Louis XIV's France the grand motet for solo voices and chorus with instrumental accompaniment, produced for great occasions by such composers as Charpentier and Couperin, was one of the chief forms of sacred music.  Since the Baroque era motet composition has declined, though Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms all contributed to the genre, and there are 20th-century examples by Messaien and Poulenc. But motets from earlier centuries have continued to be heard in church services of many denominations, as anthems, or at appropriate points during Mass.

Question 75

Carol

Answer 75

In the Middle Ages the term ‘carol’ referred to a song in a particular musical form peculiar to England, though in the late Middle Ages carols were classified according to their various uses.  Carol form begins with a refrain known as a ‘burden’, and is followed by verses (stanzas) of uniform structure; the burden is repeated after each verse. It seems likely that the alternation between burden and verse originally implied a responsorial performance, with chorus and soloist(s) in alternation. • In later carols, the method of performance is more difficult to interpret, for example in carols of the Fayrfax manuscript (late 15th–early 16th centuries) which sometimes had two burdens. The text could be in English, Latin, or a macaronic mixture of several languages. Not all songs in carol form had Christmas words, but many had Mariological texts which would tend to associate them with Advent and Christmas, and others made more direct reference to the Christmas season, so that eventually the term came to be applied to any Christmas song, whether or not in carol form.  It is most probable that the carol began as a monophonic dance-song (Fr.: carole), in both courtly and popular forms; few written monophonic examples have survived, though there is much indirect evidence for their existence. However, the medieval carol as recorded in surviving manuscripts is neither monophonic, nor popular in origin, though destined for popular consumption. It was not composed for the liturgy, but would appear sometimes to have been used liturgically, especially as a processional song. Although a few carol texts survive from 14th-century sources, the earliest extant musical settings date from the 15th century. From this time carols became polyphonic and gradually discarded any characteristics of dance. By the late 15th century the musical form was increasingly elaborate; not only could there be more than one burden, but successive verses might have different music.

Question 76

Du Fay (1397-1474)

Answer 76

French composer.  Illegitimate son of a priest, took his mother's name of Du Fayt. Known in his early years as Willem Du Fayt , later as Guillaume Du Fay.  Choirboy at Cambrai Cathedral. He went to Italy in his twenties and fled from Bologna to Rome in 1428, staying until 1433. Sang in the papal chapel. Met Binchois in 1434. Returned to Cambrai 1439.  His connection with the Burgundian court is now thought to have been unlikely. Was most acclaimed composer of the 15th cent. Nearly 200 of his works have survived including 8 complete Masses and 84 songs. Use of a secular cantus firmus, such as ‘L'homme armé,’ in a Mass possibly originated with him.  He was basically a conservative composer, but his warm harmonies and expressive tunes anticipate the Renaissance. Undoubtedly his melodic clarity stemmed from his Italian years. Composed the earliest Requiem mass, which is now lost.

Question 77

Chanson (Burgundian)

Answer 77

song setting French words. The term is used chiefly for French polyphonic songs of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and the following discussion will be largely confined to that application.  From the 12th century survive such narrative genres as the chanson de geste (epic song)—with many lines (laisses or tirades) sung monophonically to repeated melodic formulas—and such shorter lyrical forms as the chanson de toile (spinning song), divided into strophes sometimes including a refrain. Between the 13th and 15th centuries most of the shorter lyric forms, derived from the round-dance (carole), were designated by their fixed rhyme form—rondet, rondel, rondeau (ABaAabAB), ballade (ababbcCC), or virelai/bergerette (ABccabAB)—and were set to music for two, three, or four voices. Although the troubadours and trouvères occasionally invented new melodies, their verse was often sung to tunes derived from plainchant or popular song, played on the fiddle (vielle) or other instruments by the minstrels (jongleurs). Few chanson melodies survive from the Middle Ages, when oral transmission ruled art song as well as folksong, but many have been reconstructed from later indirect polyphonic sources including 13th-century Latin or polytextual motets and instrumental music.  Direct polyphonic setting burgeons in the work of such 14th-century poet-musicians as Adam de la Halle, Jehan de L'Escurel, and particularly Guillaume de Machaut. Whereas the earliest examples generally have a relatively unadorned melody in the upper voice, with lower voices moving in parallel harmony, during the 14th century there is increasing melismatic elaboration, rhythmic complexity, and independence of part-writing. In the 15th century a reaction to the mannered complexity of such Ars Nova or ars subtilior composers as Jaquemin de Senleches and Baude Cordier is found in the chansons of Dunstaple and other English composers who showed the way to musicians associated with the court of Burgundy—for example, Dufay, Binchois, and Busnois—who wrote mostly fixed-form poems for three parts. Although the lower parts were frequently conceived for and played on instruments, these chansons achieve greater clarity of melody and counterpoint—based generally on fauxbourdon (6-3) rather than root-position (5-3) harmony.  The highpoint of the polyphonic chanson as an international form was reached in the 16th century, when an enormous repertory of three-, four-, and five-part pieces appeared from the new printing presses of Venice (Petrucci and Gardano), Rome (Antico), Paris (Attaingnant, Du Chemin, and Le Roy), Lyons (Moderne), Antwerp (Susato), and Louvain (Phalèse). Josquin, Compère, and Févin abandoned the fixed repetitive forms of their predecessors and concentrated on setting single strophes in a way that more clearly reflects the verse's natural prosody and syntax. This is even more marked in the work of their successors Sermisy, Janequin, Jacotin, Certon, Sandrin, and others who refine the art of balancing homophony with light motivic counterpoint. Josquin's northern disciples—Gombert, Clemens non Papa, Crecquillon, and others—generally pursue a denser contrapuntal approach, passing short motifs between the voices while setting the same kind of (mostly amorous courtly) epigrams and strophic pieces by such poets as Clément Marot and Mellin de Saint-Gelais.  During the second half of the 16th century more sophisticated verse, based on classical or Petrarchan models, came to the fore with the odes and sonnets of Pierre de Ronsard and the poets of the Pléiade, set mostly for four or five voices with increasingly colourful word-painting by Arcadelt, Clereau, Goudimel, Costeley, Lassus, Monte, Jean de Castro, Bertrand, Guillaume Boni, Le Jeune, and many others. Lassus's chansons in particular are notable for their complexity, encompassing a broad range of moods and displaying great subtlety and depth. Meanwhile a preference for monodic performance of the simpler strophic verse led to the designation ‘chanson en façon d'air’ (Costeley, 1570) or simply ‘air’ (Adrian Le Roy, 1571) replacing that of ‘voix de ville’, though such pieces continued to be published as homophonic partsongs rather than lute-songs. The latter do not begin to predominate until the 17th century, when the Ballard press mastered the technique of printing French lute tablature.  With French thus supplanting Latin as the leading European language of the late Middle Ages, the chanson became the main type of secular music sung or played by amateur or professional musicians in the homes, palaces, theatres, schools, and streets of Renaissance Europe. Not only were chansons widely sung, they were also frequently arranged for instrumental solo or ensemble, inspiring such new forms as the canzona, fantasia, and variations. They also provided the melodic and even harmonic substance for much new sacred music—notably ‘imitation’ or ‘parody’ masses and Magnificat settings, as well as vernacular psalms, chorales, and other spiritual contrafacta.  During the 16th century the French chanson paralleled its Italian counterpart, the madrigal, becoming more responsive to the expression of the text as well as to its form and metre, which had hitherto been its primary concern. This new attention to word-painting is heightened by the greater contrast in rhythm and texture, as well as by chromatic melody and harmony.

Question 78

Binchois (c. 1400-1460)

Answer 78

Burgundian composer.  He is first heard of as an organist at the church of Ste Waudru, Mons, in 1419.  In 1423, he moved to Lille, and shortly after this entered the service of William de la Pole, First Duke of Suffolk (the English occupied northern France at this time); they returned to the vicinity of Mons (Hainaut) in 1425.  There is no evidence that Binchois ever visited England, but some of his works are settings of the Sarum Use (the “use” is the layout and structure of the liturgy in different areas), at least one song is found in an English manuscript, and his ballade Dueil angoisseus was used as the basis of a mass setting by the English composer Bedyngham.  In about 1426, Binchois joined the Burgundian court of Philip the Good, and one of his few datable works is the motet Nove cantum melodie for the baptism of the Burgundian Prince Anthoine in January 1431.  There was some contact between Binchois and Dufay—their first meeting seems to have been in 1434, when the Burgundian and Savoy courts were at Chambéry, and in 1449 Dufay stayed with Binchois in Mons.  Binchois retired to Soignies in 1452 and there became provost of the collegiate church of St Vincent. It is possible that he had some connection with the famous Feast of the Pheasant in Lille (1454), where the chanson Je ne vis oncques la pareille, ascribed to Binchois in one source and to Dufay in another, was performed.  Binchois was one of the most able and yet thoroughly traditional composers of the 15th century. His surviving works include 28 mass movements, 32 psalms, motets, and small sacred works, and 54 chansons, 47 in rondeau form and seven in ballade form. Some of his sacred output is severely practical, with simple note-against-note harmonizations of the chant, which appears in the top voice as was usually the case in continental music of that period. Although he wrote pairs of mass movements, they are linked rather loosely (by overall range, the sequence of time signatures, etc.), and no pair shares the same tenor. He avoided large-scale works, writing no cyclic masses and only one isorhythmic motet (Nove cantum melodie).  Binchois's songs are his most attractive compositions: typical features include the use of under-3rd cadences, rather short-breathed phrases, triple rhythm (the only song in duple time is Seule esgaree), and the apparent repetition of material. In fact these superficial repetitions serve to demonstrate Binchois's flexibility, since it is rare for two phrases to have exactly the same rhythmic or melodic contour, and consecutive phrases rarely end on the same pitch or note-value.  Binchois's death was lamented in Ockeghem's Mort, tu as navré de ton dart, which tells us that Binchois was a soldier in his youth (perhaps with the Duke of Suffolk), and which opens with what seems to be a quotation from an otherwise unknown Binchois chanson.

Question 79

Masses (all varieties) – See larger printout from Grove regarding the Mass in general.

Answer 79

 The 15th century saw an increasing tendency not only towards the composition of complete masses, but also towards giving these an overall unity, usually by the use in all the movements of some kind of existing material, the various kinds of which may be summarized as follows: • (a) Plainchant. A small number of polyphonic masses have each movement based on a different plainchant. The majority of plainchant-based masses are of the so-called cantus firmus type, in which the same plainchant is used in each movement, appearing either in one voice only, usually the tenor, or in all voices, as in Josquin's Missa ‘Pange lingua’. • (b) Secular melodies. Masses based on secular melodies are usually also of the cantus firmus type; they are particularly characteristic of the 15th and earlier 16th centuries. Dufay's Missa ‘Se la face ay pale’ is an example of a mass based on a melody from a chanson (his own), but melodies of unknown origin, possibly folk tunes, were also used. The most commonly used of these was the famous L'Homme armé melody. More than 30 L'Homme armé masses survive, by such composers as Dufay, Ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin, La Rue, Morales, and Palestrina. In a ‘quodlibet’ mass, such as Isaac's Missa carminum, a selection of melodies is used. • (c) Invented themes. Original themes might be drawn from the hexachord, or devised by applying solmization syllables to the vowels in an appropriate phrase, as in Josquin's Missa ‘Hercules dux Ferrariae’; they would then be used as cantus firmi.